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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 17:05:12 GMT -5
Hello everyone! It's been a little while since I've posted anything, life has been CRAZY lately! But my two fuzz butts are doing well. Honey, the newest recruit, has total control of the house despite being less than 1/2 of Dandy's size. She's our feisty girl who loves to wrestle ALL THE TIME. Meanwhile Dandy is the lazy one who'd rather sniff around and explore than run around with Honey.
The two of them get 6-8 hours out of their cage per day, and we find them getting more and more bored with our enrichment toys we have for them. Mind you, we do rotate toys to try and keep them interested but it never seems to work. Here's a list of what we have, I'd love suggestions for more creative and fun toys for them!
- Rice dig box: We've had this since Dandy was our only ferret and he used to like it quite a bit. Now neither of them play in it, and if you put them in it by force they will scramble to escape as fast as possible!
- Tubes: We have 1 soft, flexible, clear tube and 1 thicker, hard, black tube. They love both of them, but definitely get less enjoyment out of the tubes than before. I think this is because the tubes have become our "go-to" toy after everything else stopped interesting them, and it's lost it's luster.
-Cat toys: We have a large selection of cat jingle bells, wands, feathers, etc that they rarely play with. (They were never that interested in the first place)
- Ball Pit: Just like the rice dig box, this is something they scramble to get out of ASAP
-Other stuff we've tried: plastic baggies, boxes filled with things that make noise, filling our bathtub with snow during the winter... all entertain them for a max of 30 seconds and then they get bored and start looking for remotes or DVD cases to chew on.
HELP!!! I'll try anything to get them interested in something!
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Post by LindaM on May 18, 2017 17:25:22 GMT -5
You can try changing up what you use for their dig box. Try some beans (pinto for example), often they appreciate the change of texture. Why not try to connect their tubes/tunnels to something, like modified storage container or a cardboard box made into a little ferret castle, or a nice big paper bag (my furballs love when we get Olive Garden). How about squeaky toys? My furballs have a ton of toys that contain squeakers and grunters (they LOVE the noise of the grunter, it perplexes them). Mind you, since these are soft toys, they should be checked regularly for damages and removed if they hurt them badly so it doesn't endanger them. The majority of my babies toys are from the company called Patchwork Pets, they have various toys, and include squeakers, grunters, and crinkle paper in them. patchworkpet.comYou can check in the dog sections for toys for the ferrets too, but always keep in mind that no rubber under any circumstances should be allowed near them. You can also let them snorkel for toys or treats (I use shrimp for this particular activity) in a container of water. |
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 19:59:47 GMT -5
You can try changing up what you use for their dig box. Try some beans (pinto for example), often they appreciate the change of texture. Why not try to connect their tubes/tunnels to something, like modified storage container or a cardboard box made into a little ferret castle, or a nice big paper bag (my furballs love when we get Olive Garden). How about squeaky toys? My furballs have a ton of toys that contain squeakers and grunters (they LOVE the noise of the grunter, it perplexes them). Mind you, since these are soft toys, they should be checked regularly for damages and removed if they hurt them badly so it doesn't endanger them. The majority of my babies toys are from the company called Patchwork Pets, they have various toys, and include squeakers, grunters, and crinkle paper in them. patchworkpet.comYou can check in the dog sections for toys for the ferrets too, but always keep in mind that no rubber under any circumstances should be allowed near them. You can also let them snorkel for toys or treats (I use shrimp for this particular activity) in a container of water. If I ever can't find Dandy, I use my dog squeaky toy and he comes running! He never wants to play with the squeaky, but he responds to the noise instantly. I've tried connecting their tube to their octopus or their soft sided box they sleep in and it seems to not have much effect. I'll try the paper bag though! I know Honey does like to be carted around in a bag, she jumps right in for me to pull her around the house lol I should try getting some beans, I've seen that suggested on a few other threads too! Thank you for your suggestions! |
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Post by lee on May 24, 2017 16:59:16 GMT -5
I brought my human kids a radio controlled car so they can wear the fuzzys out, it's something they never get board with, it makes noises and has flashing lights, also I chage there dig boxes all the time, there favoured one is leaves, dirt and twigs. Also every now and then I put a peace of meat in side a large thick book ( old 1)and it takes then ages to find it and there is loads of docking and bouncing about. Also cesars favored all time game is to be given a hole chicken egg in shell, he spends ages trying to brake it open
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Post by LindaM on May 24, 2017 17:06:36 GMT -5
lee Chicken egg shells are a bit tough for them to get through most of the time, the preference is usually quail eggs, which they happily and much more easily get cracked open to enjoy the yummy goodies inside.  A remote control car is a good idea though, I've thought of getting one for our fuzzies too. But most of them have rubber wheels or small plastic bits that can get a piece bitten off and ingested in no time at all, even during play, so we just haven't found one considered safe enough yet. 
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2017 11:36:37 GMT -5
Re remote control cars I was thinking also to buy but sew a cover on it eg to look like a mice. So rubber parts could not be easily accessible. When I do it I will post photo.
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Post by RedSky on May 26, 2017 6:03:01 GMT -5
My ferret gets bored quickly too.
The only thing she likes to dig in in soil, which has to be outside only due to carpet. She occasionally plays in the shower whilst it's running and loves me to dry her off with a towel after. It's her favourite game. She also likes it when I put the towel on the floor then pull her around on it.
Another thing is if they always play in one or two rooms in the house take them to another to explore it. We swap between the living room, bedrooms and dining room. The living room and dining room are under supervision only, due to cables mainly, but she's not always reliable to go to the toilet on puppy pads.
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Post by Agronvall on Jun 11, 2017 16:45:59 GMT -5
Hey there, I'm not sure if anyone on here has mentioned this yet, but have you heard of ferret world? It's this awesome website, made by this gal named Stephanie. She also has a youtube channel by the same name. As the name implies, she is this cool ferret expert. She has even written a couple of ebooks that helps with the care of ferrets. One of them is about games and toys!  I'll give you the link in this post. www.ferret-world.com/101ferretgamesandhomemadeferrettoys.html |
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Post by LindaM on Jun 11, 2017 17:58:18 GMT -5
Agronvall Honestly, no one is a true ferret expert, there are very ferret-knowledgeable people, but we are continually learning new things about ferrets. While there is some good information on there, I would take some of the things on that website with a pinch of salt too though. Like scruffing (which she mentions is her favorite method) being used to discipline a ferret that behaved badly, that will only lead to even more trouble, especially with a dominant ferret. It could even result in a ferret becoming a fear biter, instead scruffing them needs to be rewarded so it can be used when needed for medical purposes and vet visits, not to discipline them. The site also mentioned somewhere about letting your ferrets fast (have no food) for 1 day every week, that can be INCREDIBLY dangerous, especially to a ferret with insulinoma who needs to have food available at all times. It also advises that using a water bottle will be better, simply because it will be less mess, nothing about how much damage water bottles tend to do to little ferret teeth at all. She also says to spray a bitterant on everything they bite, this is more miss than ever working, as ferrets will continue to bite until they find a spot that doesn't have it on, or not even care that it is there in the first place, and as Sherry recently mentioned, it can have a much worse effect, should a ferret still have that awful taste in their mouth and then try to eat, they can associate the taste with their food and stop eating.
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